In N Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And what to our wondering eyes should appear but an In N Out Burger in the new Casa Grande shopping center, and of course we had to immediately try it out. For those of you who have never heard of nor encountered an In N Out Burger, it almost has a cult following probably because the locations are limited pretty much to California and some other parts of the southwest. Every restaurant we have visited looks EXACTLY like every other In N Out Burger restaurant.

The menu consists of a hamburger, a double hamburger, a cheeseburger, fries, soft drinks and three flavors of milk shakes. The fries are made from fresh potatoes, and if you look behind the counter, you will see an employee dutifully feeding whole peeled potatoes through the french fry cutter. All employees are fresh-faced teens who are a cut above what you would expect in a fast food establishment, and they are paid accordingly.

We will indulge another time or two while we are here, and then I will have had my fix for another year.

The weather has cooled a bit and we have had some sprinkles of rain over the past few days with the temps hovering in the high sixties. Right now I see blue sky and sunshine.

The Ouseys who have been on the desert near Quartzite for the past week are due here tomorrow so we will spend some time catching up. Carolyn and I always have to make at least one pilgrimage to IKEA and Trader Joe's, and although she doesn't know it yet, the annual quilting and craft show in Phoenix is coming up this week, so I will try to entice her to join me for that.

Have you read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson? If not, get your hands on a copy ASAP. It is a true story of one man's efforts to build a school (schools) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. You will be amazed and completely drawn into his ongoing efforts, failures and successes. I must admit I had never heard of the man nor the book, but Brian and Sheila gave us the book for Christmas, and I am hooked!! You will see why as you read it.

We invited two couples from Wisconsin for drinks yesterday afternoon; this after the two Wisconsin guys had removed the bedroom slide from their fifth-wheel to repair a rotting floor caused by an ongoing water leak. it didn't take long for the half dozen 'geezers' to realize they weren't going to be able to remove and lower the slide, so the owner of a Bobcat came to the rescue. Slide removed, floor repaired, slide replaced and they slept in their bed last night.

One couple we knew from last year and both of the guys own barber shops within a half block of each other in Hager City, Wisconsin and have been friends for years. We now have an invitation for a place to stay on our return trip from Maryland next summer if we choose to go through Wisconsin.........which we probably will since I have always wanted to visit the Winnebago factory in Iowa.

And in another week or so, I will regale you with more heart-stopping, mind-blowing adventures from the land of sunshine. Ciao